LAZER LINEAR-18 ELITE+

This compact light bar has four operating modes for different conditions.

 

We’re all accustomed to LED light bars with varying brightness and beam distances, but the latest development from UK-based Lazer is the Linear-18 Elite+ bar that has four different operating modes.

 

We’ve fitted a test Linear-18 Elite+ to our OTA Grand Vitara, with the intention of evaluating it over the next few months.

First up, we were initially surprised at how small this light was: measuring 535mm (21 inches) in length and only 40mm (1.6 inches) in height. But its specifications suggested a lot of performance: a combination of 36 white and 18 yellow LEDs with power of up to 190 watts and claimed maximum beam distance of 600 metres at one lux.

The extremely compact size of this light made it ideal for fitment to vehicles that lacked nudge bars or ‘roo bars. It could slot into a typical 4WD wagon or ute grille with minimum effort, or mount to a slender roof-rail cross bar, we reckoned.

At first, the RRP of $1075 in late-2024 seemed somewhat steep, but the ability to fit it to virtually any vehicle’s front end without any bar work could save buyers hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars. The price also included a dedicated harness, relay and twin dashboard switches.

The dashboard control switches and the relay were quite different from anything we’ve tested before, necessitating a trip from the NSW Southern Highlands to Nowra, to the Lazer light dealership of Coastal Auto Electrical and Air Conditioning, where the dedicated componentry was professionally fitted.

 

 

The controls consisted of a small on-off rocker switch to enable the light to assist during high-beam operation and a second rocker that switched the light between four operating modes: Boost (white only), Combo (white + yellow), Snow/Fog/Dust Mode (yellow only) and Low Output (white only). 

A memory function within the lamp meant that the previous mode selected was in effect when the vehicle was restarted. Additionally, pressing and holding the selector switch for two seconds resulted in the light instantly jumping to the Low Output mode.

 

 

The supplemental yellow LEDs could either combine with the 5000-Kelvin white light for a slightly yellowed colour temperature at maximum beam length and distance, or operate on their own. In yellow-beam only operation the beam was angled slightly down and to the sides of the road: optimal for foggy or dusty conditions.

Normally, we evaluate driving light beams on our dedicated test route and publish the results in the form of non-modified video footage, but for the Lazer Linear-18 Elite+ we needed to check out the different operating modes in appropriate conditions.

Our initial evaluation of the Combo maximum beam operation showed that this mini-sized light performed above expectations. While not delivering the beam distance and light intensity of higher-rated lights, such as Lazer’s Triple-R models, it lit up our test track very effectively. 

 

 

A plus was the slightly yellowish colour temperature that didn’t cause much ‘flare’ from reflective road signs and also considerably reduced the ‘relative blindness’ that can occur when switching from high beam to low beam.

We’ll continue to check out the long-term-test Linear-18 Elite+ bar and report on it regularly.

Like all Lazer products, the Elite+ was designed, engineered and manufactured in-house in the UK, and was backed a five-year warranty and lifetime lens guarantee.